Fight to Survive (Daryl Dixon)
by Devilninja16
Summary: The Apocalypse has started, and Alex finds herself lost in the forest. She has no food, and has no idea how to survive for long by herself. She thinks she might be the only survivor, but soon finds out she is wrong, when she come across a man with a crossbow.
1. Lost

******Hello! This is a 'The Walking Dead' Fanfic. However, it will not be following the same storyline as the show itself. Hope you all like it. :)**

**Chapter One**

My legs were aching with every step. I swear I have walked more in the past week, than I have in my entire life. All I had was the clothes on my back; a small bag, which held a couple of bottles of water; a lighter, and an old red pocket knife. The forest seemed like the only safe place to be lately, and that was exactly where I was.

There was a virus outbreak, and it was very deadly. It is passed on by a simple bite from an already infected person. If bitten, it will killed you, but then something very strange happens. You come back to life, but you are not yourself anymore. You turn into a monster, which eats the flesh of other humans. Pretty much you become a zombie, is the way I would put it. The 'Zombie Apocalypse' has officially started, and I was the only survivor so far, that I knew of.

The only problem now was, I was lost. I tried my best to stay close to the town. So I could sneak back in to get food, and water when I needed it. Somehow, I seemed to have strayed a bit further than I attended. I could not find my way back. I have seen nothing but trees for days, and my stomach was growling furiously with hunger.

There was plenty of bushes with berry looking fruits on them, but I had no idea how to tell if they were safe to eat or not. I just knew I was not willing to risk it- just yet. I was still hoping that I would come across an injured animal, something easy to kill, so I could cook it up and eat it. As far as I know, animals don't seem to be affected by the virus.

"Fuck!" I groaned. My foot had caught a large tree root, which was sticking slightly out of the ground. I stumbled forward, but managed to balance myself, stopping me from falling to the ground. I had lost count to how many times I had nearly fallen over in the last day. My feet were dragging along, and my pace was slow. I did not have the energy to lift my feet properly as I walked.

I stopped, leaning against a thick tree trunk. I stared up through the tree canopy. The sky was a dark pink colour. I knew it would be getting dark very soon. I needed to find myself somewhere safe to sleep for the night.

I looked around at the trees surrounding me. Just a couple metres away I spotted a tree, with thick branches, and relatively low ones. It would be easy to climb. I sighed, and pushed off from the trunk I was leaning on. I walked over to the tree, and reached for the closet branch. I had to stand on my tip toes to grab a good hold onto it. With both my hands holding the branch firmly, I used my feet on the tree trunk to climb up onto the branch. It was a lot harder than usual, and took all the little strength I had left in me.

I sat on the branch gathering my breath. I looked above me into the tree, there was many more branches that I could use to climb a bit higher. I stood up on the branch, and began to climb further up the tree.

I stopped about four metres off the ground. The branch that I was on was thicker than my hips, making it easy to sit and balance on. I sat with my back leaning against the trunk, and my legs laid out in front of me. I hung my back pack up on a close by branch, taking a bottle of water out to sip on. In the distant sky I could see the faint orange glow of the disappearing sun. It would be completely dark within the next 15 minutes.

My stomach growled loudly, causing me to jump slightly at any noise. My first thought was the noise came from an infected. I relaxed a little, when I realised it was myself who made the noise. I held my hungry stomach, and groaned. I have never gone this long without food before. Not even when I thought I was fat as a teenager, and tried to starve myself. That only lasted half a day.

I laughed slightly, remembering my stupid teenage self. That girl defiantly would not have survived this long. There was no way she would have been able to live without her hair straightener, or her make up, or a mother picking up after her.

Luckily that was no longer me. In the few short years since I finished high school, I had done a lot of growing up. I got a job, started Karate as a way of keeping fit (Not that I was any good at it) but I did learn discipline, and respect. Something everyone needs in their life. In this new life, however, I am not sure what I will need to survive. I am still figuring it all out as I go.

I closed my eyes, and hugged myself with my arms, trying to keep my body warmth in. The nights were getting colder, and I really wished I had grabbed a jacket, the last time I was in town. I just did not think I was going to get lost, to the point I was unable to find my way back.

Here I was in denim shorts and white tank top, stained with dirt and blood. I did not usual wear tops that exposed the top of my arms and shoulders, only when working out. Over the years my shoulders had slowly become covered in small brown freckles, that luckily did not go all the way down my arms, but did also cover my nose, and top of my cheeks. Usually my makeup would just cover them, but there was no need for makeup in a world like this. I had my brown hair pulled back into a high pony tail. I could not leave it down for long now. It was just too messy, and got in my eyes.

I was just kind of glad that no one was around to see me in this horrible state, although I felt very lonely most days. I missed my mum, and my father. Everyone I had once known was dead, as far as I know.

I looked down at my feet. I was wearing an old pair of joggers. I really wished I had been wearing my ugg boots instead when all this happened. My feet were freezing, and my toes ached from the cold.

I had a feeling I was not going to get much sleep tonight. I had not had a goodnight sleep, since before all this happened. The constant groaning noises from infected that had strayed into the forest, kept me up most the time, and now the cold was also contributing to me not being able to sleep.

I was awoken abruptly. The tree in which I was sleeping in was shaking underneath me. I looked down to see what had disturbed my sleep. At the base of the tree was an infected, growling up at me. He banged against the tree, trying to either knock me down, or get up himself.

I found it hard to focus my eyes on him. They were stinging from the sudden light intake. It did not feel like I had been asleep for long, couple hours at most. But it was already day time.

I knew I could not stay up in the tree all day. I would have to go down and take care of the infected. By the looks of it, there was just one.

I swung my back pack on, and slowly made my way down the tree. When I got to a branch just out of the zombies reach, I pulled out my pocket knife. I flicked out the blade, and held it out above his head. He began to flail his arms in the air, trying to grab a hold of me. I timed it perfectly, and as soon as my opportunity came, I plunged the blade into the top of his head. He stopped moving, and went silent, before flopping down to the ground.

I jumped down out of the tree, and landed beside him. I winced as the sudden shock on my legs made them buckle under my weight. After I regained my balance, I began to walk. I walked in the direction of the sun, hoping it would lead me back to my town. Unfortunately I did not know the correct direction of my town. I really wished I had paid more attention to the suns position when I first walked into the forest.

I knew if I did not find the town soon, I would have to risk eating the wild berries in the forest. Hopefully I might even find a stream somewhere and fill up my water bottles, I was running low.

As I walked past a large tree, something caught my eye, making me double back. I frowned as I saw a squirrel pinned the tree at head height, by an arrow.

"What the fuck?" I mumbled. I quickly looked around, but did not spot anyone. I smirked to myself and grabbed a hold of the end of the arrow, pulling it and the squirrel away from the tree. I was so starving right now that even squirrel sounded fantastic. I could make a little fire and cook it up.

"Drop it girl, it's mine!"

The deep voice made me jump, and I quickly turned around to see who had spoken. A few metres away from me stood a man about 10 years older than me. He had short light brown hair, and his clothes were ripped and dirty. He had a large crossbow swung over his shoulder. He was sizing me up, ready to take me on. He looked like someone who was rough, even before all this had happened.

I knew if I gave him the Squirrel, I would have to continue starving. There was no way I was going to trust this guy to share it with me either. He looked like he wouldn't care less if I starved to death. I took my chance, hoping I was faster than him. I took of running in the opposite direction, with the squirrel clenched tightly in my hand.

I did not dare look back to see if he was following me. I could not hear any footsteps behind me over the sound of my fast heartbeat. As I continued running as fast as I could, I swore I heard him yell out to me again. I could not here exactly what he said. But it sounded like a threat. I, however, did not stop running.

My eyes went wide as a sudden sharp, burning sensation erupted from my right thigh. I stopped running and looked down at my leg. I gasped heavily, seeing the end of an arrow sticking out the front of my thigh, not far above my knee. Dark red blood began to seep down from the wound. I grabbed the arrow in an attempt to pull it out of my leg. I screamed loudly as I pulled slightly on it. It hurt a lot more than when the arrow went in. I stopped pulling. My hands were shaking from the pain, and the arrow was still stuck in my leg.

I began to panic, as I heard the man's footsteps approach me from behind.


	2. Daryl and Merle

**Chapter Two**

"I told ya I'd shoot ya if ya didn't drop it!" The man had caught up with me, and he bent down and picked up the squirrel that had fallen out of my hand.

"Now I am goin to be needin that back," He pointed to the arrow in my thigh. I looked up at him in horror. This idiot just shot me in the leg, and he was worried about getting his darn arrow back.

"Fuck you!" I spat at him. I slowly reached into my pocket, and pulled out my knife. I did not take my eyes off of him, as I held it behind my back ready to strike.

He leant down over me glaring, "Hold still ya bitch," His hand started to go for the arrow.

I sung my arm up at him, with the knife in it. He reacted quickly and back up, avoiding the knife, and dropping the squirrel. He growled and came charging down at me. He grabbed a hold of my wrist with the knife in it. I immediately hit him in the side of my face with my free fist as hard as I could.

He glared at me angrily, and took the knife from my hand by force. He held it up to my throat, "Don't move!" He grabbed a hold of the arrow in my leg by the tip, and pulled it out straight through my leg with all his force, tearing the flesh around it. I pretty sure every infected person from miles around would have heard my ear splitting scream when he did this. He removed the knife from my neck, and held his hand over my mouth, "Shut the fuck up!" He growled in my ear.

I was gasping heavily with the pain coming from my leg. I put my shaky hand to the wound, and I could feel the blood pouring out of it.

The man let go of my mouth and stood up, backing away from me. With the bloody arrow in one hand and the squirrel in the other, he turned to leave.

"Wait!" I yelled after him. I was bleeding badly, and I knew if he just left me here I was going to die. "Please?" I begged him, and he stopped walking and turned to face me. He looked down at my bleeding leg, and frowned.

He walked back over to me, and helped me to my feet. I was not expecting him to do that. He held me up so I would not fall back down. "I should just leave ya here to die, after stealin from me."

He grabbed a hold of the bottom of my shirt and began to tear it. My eyes went wide "What the hell are you doing?"

"Do ya wanna bleed to death?" I did not answer him, but held still as he ripped the bottom of my shirt all the way around and off. He tied the rag around my wound, slowing down the bleed. My shirt was a lot shorter now, you could almost see my belly button.

He began to walk, and I limped beside him holding his arm for support. I felt nervous going with the man who shot me, but I had no choice. Even if he does end up killing me, I was just going to die back there anyway.

We walked in silence for half an hour. I did not dare say anything to him, in case he changed his mind and left me behind. We finally came to a stop, in front of us was a piece of rope tied between the trees at waist height. Attached to the rope were old tin cans. The man ducked under the rope and motioned for me to follow. I slowly bent down under the rope, my leg throbbed under the pressure. I came up the other side, and could see a tent amongst the tress, a few metres a head.

"What is the rope for?" I asked.

"Warns us when walkers are comin, cans rattle when the hit the rope," He explained.

"Walkers?"

"Yeah! What do ya call em?"

"Infected, zombies…I don't know what to call them really."

I saw him smirk a bit when I called them zombies. He walked over to the tent and went inside. I cautiously walked over, and sat down near the burnt out camp fire. The rag that was wrapped around my leg was soaked through with blood.

The man walked back out of the tent a minute later. He placed his crossbow on the ground next to the tent, and chucked the squirrel on the ground next to it. In his hands he held a small red bag. He sat down in front of me, and grabbed my hurt leg with his rough hands. He untied the rag, and chucked it to the side. He examine the wound for a second then looked up in my eyes. I swear I saw concern in his eyes, making me feel very nervous.

"Am I going to die?" I asked.

"Nah. I'll stitch ya up, ya'll be fine. Might need to find some pills for ya though."

I assumed he meant antibiotics by pills. He reached in the bag and pulled out some black thread, and what looked like a sewing needle.

"I'm Alex," I said startling him, as he was trying to thread the string into the needle.

"Daryl," He mumbled back.

I cringed and groaned and he poked the needle through my skin. I clenched my jaw shut tightly to try and stop myself from screaming out, but every now and then a whimper would escape my mouth.

Finally he did the last stitch and I let out a sigh of relief. Daryl smirked up at me, "We ain't done yet, lay on ya stomach."

I gulped nervously, forgetting about the entrance wound on the back of my leg. I laid down on the dirty ground on my stomach, and Daryl began to stitch the back up as well.

"Done," He said, as he cut the remainder threat off with his teeth. I sat up and looked down at my now stitched up leg. The stitches did not look very professional at all, but I knew they would do fine.

"We are goin to need to wrap that back up," He told me, and I nodded looking down at the blood soaked rag next to me. I knew I could not use that again, and there was no way I was going to have my shirt ripped up any higher.

"Do you have anything I can use?" I asked him.

"Use your shirt," He said standing up.

"I won't have any shirt left," I growled at him.

"That ain't my problem girl!"

"Yeah it is! You're the one who bloody shot me!" I yelled at him, standing up right in front of him. He was a head taller than me, and he glared down at me.

"What's going on ere?" Another male's voice sounded from behind me.

I turned around to see a man standing behind me, he looked at least 10 years older than Daryl. "Who's the babe?" He asked smirking at me.

"No one!" Daryl replied, "She's just leavin!"

Daryl grabbed my arm roughly and began to lead me back towards the rope boundary. I pulled my arm out of his grip and took a step back from him.

"Now now, brother. She can stay awhile," The older man said, as he licked his lips and took a step closer to me. "The names Merle."

"Alex," I whispered quietly, shifting uncomfortably. I did not like the look this man was giving me, it sent shivers down my spine.

Daryl walked past me. I heard him whisper "Whatever," As he passed. He walked over to the tent and went inside.

"You hungry?" Merle asked me, and I nodded. "Got some rabbit. Looks like Daryl got some squirrel as well," He said picking up the squirrel I had tried to steal earlier, from the ground.

I sat back down, and watched as Meryl lit the fire, before pulling out a knife and skinning the dead animals. I looked down at my feet as he did this, not wanting to watch.

"Here," A voice said from beside me. Daryl was standing next to me, with a grey rag in his hands. I slowly reached up and grabbed it from him. I wrapped around my wound to stop dirt from getting into it.

"Thanks," I mumbled and he nodded before going over to help Merle with the food.


	3. Scars

**Chapter Three**

I sat by the camp fire and awkwardly ate my food. They did not have any plates or cutlery so we ate straight from the pot with our fingers. I could feel Merle's eyes on me as I ate. I avoided looking anywhere but at my food.

"How long ya been in these woods for?" Merle asked me.

"Don't know exactly. Since it all happened," I told him, and he nodded.

"I am surprised you survived this long by ya self," Daryl said between bites of his squirrel.

I knew that Daryl was implying he thought I was weak, and could not survive on my own. I did not say anything back to him about this. I knew he was kind of right. If they had not shared their food with me, I would have probably starved to death very soon. I still thought Daryl was an asshole though. He did shoot me in the leg with one of his arrows after all. He was even willing to make me leave without letting me eat first.

I took my last bite of the meat, and wiped my greasy hands on my dirty denim shorts. "You're done?" Daryl asked me, looking up from his food.

"Yeah."

Daryl chucked his food back into the pot, and stood up. He grabbed my small back pack off the ground beside me. And held it out towards me, "Good. You can go now." He chucked my bag onto my lap. I frowned up at him. I did not know why he was determined to get rid of me.

"Hold on just a sec little brother," Merle stood up, "That is no way to treat a lady. She don't need to go nowhere."

"She can't stay here Merle. We don't need to babysit this girl, she'll get us killed."

I took my bag of my lap, and stood up to face Daryl, "I can take care of myself!" I growled at him.

"Well go on than, get!" He pointed off into the trees. I did not move. I wanted to tell Daryl to get fucked, and just leave. But I knew I would have a better chance of surviving this if I stayed with these guys. Merle wanted me to stay at least. However, I don't think his intentions are entirely for my benefit. I was a little nervous that Merle was hoping to get certain favours from me. After all, there would not be many women about these days. There was no way I was going to be doing anything sexual for him. I just hoped he would not force me to do anything like that.

"I'm not leaving!" I told Daryl. I folded my arms stubbornly and sat back down. I would have looked like a little kid chucking a tantrum, well that's how I felt anyways.

"Whatever!" Daryl said. He walked passed me and out into the woods.

"Where is he going?" I asked Merle.

"To the stream, I'd say," He answered.

My eyes lit up. There was a stream close by, that I would be able to go clean myself in. "Where is it?"

"Just go straight in the direction my little brother went. It is not far."

"Thanks." I got up, and grabbed my back pack. I walked in the direction Daryl had went. I could not spot him out in front of me. I walked at a slow pace, hoping Daryl would be done at the stream by the time I got there.

Not far ahead of me I could here water trickling, and I knew I was getting close. Soon the creek came into view. I could hear a splashing sounds coming from the water. I approached quietly and stepped out from the trees. A head of me I could see Daryl crouching down at the edge of the water. His shirt was off, and he was using the water to try wash some of the walker blood off of him. Beside him laid his crossbow. It was loaded and ready to go.

I took a few cautious steps closer to him. I don't think he had notice me yet. As I got closer I could see his back a lot clearer, and what I saw shocked me. There was thick scars going across his back in all directions. They looked old, but where still very visible. I wondered what could have done that to him. It looked like a wild animal had clawed at his back, or something like that. I took a step closer, and stepped on a small branch that snapped under my weight.

I flinched, and in a second Daryl had stood with his crossbow pointing at me. He stiff arms relaxed a little when he saw it was just me, but he did not lower the crossbow. "What are ya doin, sneaking around? Tryin to jump me while my back is turned?" His eyes narrowed at me.

"No, I just came to fill up my water bottles," I told him nervously.

Daryl continued to stare at me, like he was trying to read my intentions from my body language. I felt very uncomfortable with his eyes scanning me, and his bow still pointing at me. "Can you please lower that?" I pointed to his crossbow.

Daryl lowered his crossbow slowly. He leant down and picked up his shirt off the ground, without taking his eyes off of me. He quickly put his shirt back on, he stormed past me, back to the camp.

I let out a loud sigh of relief once he was gone. That could have ended badly. He could have shot me again. I was very thankful he didn't.

I bent down at the water and started to clean my arms and face with the water. As the water dripped from my face I wondered what made Daryl so angry all the time. I know I tried to steal the squirrel from him, but it was still a bit extreme to shoot me for it. Even now he still very angry towards me. I wondered if how he was had something to do with the scars on his back. Maybe he was abused as a child by a family member. Something like that could really mess with a person's head. I wondered if his brother knew about his scars, I would say he did. I just knew I should probably pretend I never saw them. It could just make everything worse for me. He might force me to leave and be on my own again. I really did not want to be on my own again, even though these boys were not the ideal company. I thought it would be best to try avoid and contact with Daryl, not to give him a reason to hate me anymore than he already does.

After I cleaned myself up, I filled all my water bottles up with the water. I had four, and they took up most the room in my small back pack. I really wished I had packed a spare pair of clothes right now. I would love to put of a fresh pair of cloths so I could wash the ones I am in.

I made my way back to the camp to find both the boys were not there. The tent was still set up, so I was pretty sure they did not run off from me. At least I hoped they did not.


	4. Redneck asshole

**Chapter Four**

I sat at the camp, waiting for the boys to return. It was starting to get dark now. As the sun went down the temperature started to drop. I shivered as I rubbed my arms with my hands, trying to keep warm. I got up and walked over to the camp fire. I did not know if it was a good idea to light it or not. The walkers could easily spot the fire in the dark.

I decided against it. The guys might get angry at me for doing something so stupid, and force me to leave. I really did not want to be on my own again. I turned around and spotted the small tent behind me. I wondered if maybe there was a jacket or so something to keep me warm inside.

I walked over to the tent and unzipped the opening. A bad smell hit my nose as soon as I crawled into the tent. I scrunched up my nose, it smelt just like Merle in here. The boys were not the most hygienic people. I guessed they did not wash regularly. But I guess it did not overly mattered these day. I myself did not get the opportunity to clean myself regularly anymore.

Inside the tent I could see two sleeping bags, messily laid out on the floor. There was a couple of backpacks in the far left corner. I crawled over to them, opening the closes to me. I peered inside the bag. It was full of random junk. A few knifes, arrows, and bottles of water. I peered inside the second bag to see it was filled with similar stuff. I frowned, the boys did not pack any spare clothes at all. Maybe they did not have time to like me. I pulled out a rolled up magazine in the bag and looked at the cover. A young naked lady was staring at me from the cover. Maybe they decided some things were more important than clothes. I scrunched up my face in disgust and shoved the magazine back into the bag.

I sighed, giving up. I was just going to have to freeze again. I started crawling out of the tent when my hand brushed against warm material. I looked down to see a large rag, or blanket at the end of a sleeping bag. I smiled and took it out of the tent with me. I stood up and flung the material out. It was not a blanket, it was a poncho. What a weird thing to have I thought.

I put the poncho on over my head. It fell all the way to my knees. I could feel the warmth from it, and my shivering started to stop. I sat down with my back to a tree, snuggling into the poncho. I really hoped it was Merle who owned this, because I doubt Daryl would be too happy with me touching his stuff. I probably get another arrow from him.

The sun was almost fully down. I could hear crunching of footsteps on leaves and branches getting closer to the camp. They sounded to steady to be walkers, so I assumed it was the boys. I held my knife close though, just in case I was wrong.

The boys came in view, and I let the breath I had been holding in. "Where did you go?" I asked Merle.

"Huntin," Merle chucked a dead rabbit at my feet. I cringed away from it, feeling disgusted. "That looks good on ya," Merle smirked at me, eyeing off the poncho. Daryl who was walking towards the tent peered over my way. He stopped dead in his tracks, and glared at me for a second.

"What the hell ya' doin?" He growled taking a step closer to me, "Did I say you could touch my stuff?"

I gulped nervously. So the poncho did belong to Daryl. "Sorry, I was cold," I explained.

"I don't give a shit!" He walked over to me, grabbing my arm roughly, pulling me to my feet. A jolt of pain went through my injured leg as I fell forward onto my hand and knees. Daryl gripped the poncho from my back, and pulled off my head.

"Asshole," I growled as he walked off. I rolled off my knees into a sitting position. I looked down at my leg to see blood was seeping through the rag that was wrapped around my injury.

With shaky hands I untied the rag from leg. I few of the stiches had snapped, and blood was seeping out.

It was hurting really bad, and the skin around the wound looked really red, like it was starting to get infected. Tears welled up in my eyes and slowly dripped down my cheeks. I was cold, in pain, and stuck in the forest with two redneck assholes. My life seriously could not get any worse.

I felt someone's eyes on me. It was Merle. He had come to pick up the rabbit he had thrown near me earlier. He stared down at my leg.

"That's gonna' need to be stitched up again," He said crouching down, having a closer look. I looked up at him, and wiped away my tears with the back of my hand. Standing not far behind Merle, Daryl was staring at me. When I looked his way, he quickly turned away. I saw he was now wearing the poncho. The asshole could have just asked for it back, he did not have to go pulling it forcefully off me. That boy had a serious temper.

Merle chucked the rabbit to Daryl, then disappeared into the tent. He returned carrying the small bag, which Daryl had when he stitched me up the first time. I bit my lip nervously. It was probably going to hurt twice as much as the first time, now that it was getting infected.

Merle put his hand out to me. He had a small orange bottle in his hand. I grabbed what he had given me, and realised it was a bottle of antibiotics. "Might have to cut that leg off if it gets too infected," Merle grinned.

"Thanks," I mumbled, gesturing to the pills.

"Alright, let's stich ya' back up,"

Merle started working on my leg. I grimaced and hissed in pain with every stitch. Thankfully he did not have to do the wound on the back of my leg as well. Those stitches were still firmly in place. "That infection should be cleared up in not time if you take them," Merle stood back up.

"Where did you get these from?" I asked.

"Uh, it don't matter'," Merle said, and walked off to Daryl, who was now skinning the rabbit. I looked at the label on the bottom. The name on it read 'Merle Dixon'. I started to wonder what he had them for. He seemed awkward when I asked him about it. I grabbed the rag and rewrapped my leg with it.

I got to my feet, and limped over to my bag. Unfortunately it was right next to where Daryl sat. I tried not to look at him as I crouched down at my bag, pulling out a bottle of water.

"How's the leg?" I turned my head to see Daryl was staring at me.

"Like you care!" I growled, grabbing my bottle of water and limping away from him, back over to the tree I was sitting under earlier.

I took one of the pills with my water, and hugged my knees to my chest, trying to get warm. I watched as Daryl lit the fire, but the flames were not big or noticeable from the pot on top of them. He chucked the chunks of rabbit meat into the pot. As I watched him cook, my stomach began to growl from hunger. It was very dark now, the sun had completely gone down.

I stood up, limping closer to the fire to try and get some warmth. I sat on the opposite side to Daryl and Merle. The pot on the fire was taking most of the heat, so it did not warm me up as much as I hoped it would. I hugged myself and rested my chin on my knee's staring at the fire.

I heard Daryl get up and he walked over to the tent. He returned a moment later. "Here," he said, throwing me back the poncho. It landed on my knees. I grabbed a hold of it, and looked up at Daryl to see him putting on a leather jacket.

"Thank you," I mumbled, just loud enough for him to hear. He shrugged and went back to his spot. I wondered why he was suddenly being somewhat nice to me now, as I put back on the Poncho. One minute he is an asshole, and the next I start to think maybe he is not that bad of a guy.

The poncho was still very warm from Daryl wearing it. I looked down into my lap with a small smile on my face. The poncho smelled heavily of Daryl. But I did not mind, I even kind of liked it.

We ate our dinner, and I listened to Daryl and Merle talk about who was going to take first watch. It was decided that Daryl was going to take first watch. I began to wonder where I was going to sleep. Would they let me in the tent? Or would I have to stay outside here and sleep on the ground?

"You can take my bed until I finish watch," Daryl said as he passed me. He picked up his crossbow from the ground near the tent, and sat down with it in his lap, looking out into the dark trees.

"Come on," Merle said, leading me into the tent. Merle laid down on the left side. I got into the sleeping back next to him. It smelt the same as the poncho did, so I knew it was defiantly Daryl's. "If ya' cold, ya' can come sleep with me," Merle grinned at me, as he shuffled closer to me in his sleeping bag.

I scrunched up my face, and rolled over and away from him. "No thanks!"

I tried to stay awake as long as possible until I knew Merle was asleep. I felt very nervous being alone in the tent with him. I could see Daryl's still shadow just outside the tent. I watched him closely, until I heard the sleeping grunts coming from Merle. I let my heavy eyelids finally close as sleep took over me.


	5. Bad day

**Chapter Five**

I woke to a gentle shake to my shoulder. My eyes opened quickly, and my heart rate quickened. My hand went straight to my pocket knife beside me, and in a sudden jolt I turned to face who was touching me.

It was dark, but a dim light was coming from a small latten near the tent entrance. I stared into the face of Daryl. My knife was an inch from his face, he stared at it and frowned. My wide eyes relaxed as I remembered where I was. I had been so deep in my sleep when Daryl had woken me, I had no idea where I was, or what was going on.

"Sorry," I mumbled. I lowered the knife from Daryl's face, and shifted awkwardly inside the sleeping bag.

"I'm gonna' be needin' my bed back now," Daryl said. He stared down at me, waiting for me to move. I looked over to where Merle had been sleeping not far from me. He was not there anymore. I assumed he was outside keeping watch now.

"Can't you just sleep where Merle was sleeping?" I asked, feeling a little annoyed that he had woken me up for this reason.

"I told ya' I would be needin' my bed back once I was done." Daryl grabbed my arm, and gave a rough pull, like he was trying to me pull me out of the bed.

I pulled my arm back from him and glared up at him. "Don't touch me!" I growled, before throwing back the top cover of the sleeping bag, and crawling out around Daryl. I refused to look at him, as I heard him shuffling into the nice warm sleeping bag. I shivered as cold air hit my bare arms. I stared down at Merle's sleeping bag. It was very dirty looking, and a bad smell was coming from it. I scrunched up my nose and pushed it to the side. I laid down on the tent floor without a sleeping bag. I hugged myself with my arms to try keep warm. I did not blame Daryl now for not wanting to sleep in Merle's sleeping bag with how bad it smelt, but he was his brother and he should be used to his smell by now.

I jumped in fright when I felt something fall on top of me. I look to see Daryl poncho sitting on top me scrunched up. Daryl had chucked it to me. "Thanks," I mumbled without looking at him.

I curled up under Daryl's poncho, trying to keep warm. I closed my eyes trying to let sleep take over me once again. Unfortunately, I felt wide awake now. I sneaked a peek over to Daryl, to see if he had fallen asleep yet. He was laying on his back under the sleeping bag. His hands were behind his head, and his lips were slightly parted; I could hear his soft breath pass through them, as he stared up at the tent ceiling.

"What?" I heard him grumble. His head turned slightly in my direction, his eyes staring into mine.

"Nothing." I said rather quickly. I pulled the poncho up over my face, feeling embarrassed that Daryl had noticed me looking over at him.

The bright sun light shone straight in my face. My eyes scrunched up tightly, before finally opening. I looked around me, and noticed I was alone in the tent. I listened carefully, but the only sound I could hear was the slight whistle of the wind blowing through the tree leaves.

I sat up and put Daryl's poncho to the side. It was a warm day, and I did not feel I needed it just yet. I stepped out of the tent to an empty camp site. I figured the boys were probably out hunting again. My stomach growled at the thought of food. I really hoped they would be back soon, so we could have breakfast.

I made my way over to the edge of the camp where the rope was tied between the trees. I stepped under it and made my way through the woods. I had my knife in my hand ready in case I came across a walker. Luckily there did not seem to be many, if any, walkers out this way. I stepped behind a large tree, pulling my shorts down to my ankles.

I was really annoyed about not having a toilet to do my business in anymore. I tried to save the toilet paper for 'other business' so it got tiring squatting down to 'drip dry'. Boys defiantly have it easier in this department.

I stood up, my shorts still around my ankles. Before I had the chance to pull my pants up someone came running into view from the trees.

I gasped, and quickly pulling my pants up. I stumbled as I did so, and fell face first on the ground. I looked up awkwardly to see if he had seen me. By the wide eyed, shocked look on Daryl's face he had seen everything, from my pants down, to me falling over.

My face went red with embarrassment. I really did not even want to get up I felt that embarrassed. Daryl began to walk over to me. He looked down at me and frowned. "Your arm is layin' in poision ivy. Ya' might wanna' go wash that." With that he walked off, not even bothering to help me up.

"Asshole!" I mumbled angrily. I looked over to my left arm. It was laying over a plant covered in green leaves. I quickly jumped up, taking my arm off it. I did not know if Daryl was being serious about that stuff being poison ivy. I really hoped he was joking, but then Daryl does not seem like the joking type of person.

I ran towards the stream as quickly as I could. As soon as I got there, I dipped my arm straight into the water. I used my other hand to scrub at my arm, to clean off any poison as I possible could. I pulled my arm out of the water. I could see no signs of a rash, or any other symptoms.

I sighed feeling relieved. I stood back up, and headed back for the camp. Daryl and Merle were already cooking up some meat by the time I got back there.

"Did ya wash your arm?" Merle asked me, when I entered the camp.

"What?" I asked, hoping Daryl did not tell him what he had seen.

"Daryl told me ya tripped and fell in some poison Ivy. Ya better go wash that."

"I already washed it," I told him, and my eyes wandered over to Daryl who was skinning a squirrel. I knew he had not told Merle what I was doing before I fell over. I knew Merle would probably be teasing me about it right now if he knew.

"What were you doing running through the tree's like that?" I asked Daryl feeling annoyed. It was his fault after all that caused me to fall over.

"Was chasing a rabbit. Thanks to you, it got away!" Daryl glared up at me.

I grinded my teeth together, but did not say anything back. I sat down away from the boys, and looked over my arm. I could see slight redness appearing over it, and it was starting to feel itchy.

I knew now that Daryl was not lying about it being poison ivy. This is just great! I thought sarcastically to myself. What a bad day this is turning out to be.


End file.
